Substitute restaurant reviewer Leslie Kelly has reached the end of her stint at the Post-Intelligencer and Managine Editor David McCumber (among many, many others) is breathing a huge sigh of relief. How'd this kid from Spokane end up in a big-city newsroom, anyway? Hsaio-Ching Chou, who signed off on the deal for Kelly to cover Rebekah Denn's "family leave," ain't around to answer, having gone off to PR-land. But Kelly's six-month tenure leaves a mound of unhappiness.
Much did she make of her credentials in markets of minor sophistication. Occasionally did she strain to be positive and fair. But rube will out. Unaware, perhaps, that reviewers (in Philadelphia, Dallas, Belfast) actually get sued for bogus comments, spraying stars from a misfiring Uzi, Ms. Kelly finds little to like in Seattle, starting with the décor at Flying Fish and the service at Hunt Club. But wait, there's lots more:
- Opal: "Lack of focus." Two stars.
- Café Presse, subject of an admiring "Best Bites" column when it opened: "Subsequent visits have gone downhill." Two stars.
- Marjorie: "Serving staff distracted or simply clueless." Still, two and a half stars.
- At Place Pigalle she's bummed to find her lamb chop medium rather than medium rare, the chunks of pork chewy, the halibut surpisingly bad, the desserts disappointing. Still, two and a half stars.
- At Sorrentino, where McCumber eats regularly, she orders for four, then complains about the $150 tab, the pacing of the service, and that she's ignored by the proprietor. Uh-oh, kiss of death, one and a half stars. Take that!
- Apparently no fan of Italian food more sophisticated than, say, Olive Garden, she avoids reviewing white-hot Tavolata herself. Instead, she complains that Osteria La Spiga's pastas "suffered dramatically between birth and bowl." Yet she awards three stars. Huh?
Welcome back, Rebekah! Did they remember to tell you? The pieces you wrote about Veil and Sitka & Spruce? Well, while you were away, you won the James Beard Award for the best restaurant reviews in the whole damn country.
For her part, Ms. Kelly seems to be facing the future (as a cranky freelance) with jaded aplomb: a blog appropriately titled Whining and Dining. No hard feelings, Les. Where do critics go when their time is up? To the Blogosphere, of course. Welcome to the neighborhood!
8/24/07
Update #1 to correct the spelling of Rebekah Denn's first name. Mes excuses, Madame.
Update #2: Go to Leslie's blog for a hilarious swipe at Cornichon. She calls me, gulp, "a PR twit trying to pass himself off as a legit journalist" and "chump." (That could have been a typo, however.) Have been called worse, back in my own days as a legit journalist (KING TV, Seattle Weekly). She also wants to "compare passports." I'll show you mine if you show me yours, sweetie.
